It requires punters to send in this information. Twitter users can tweet details by entering #vodafonesignal followed by location, connection type, signal strength in bars, whether you're indoors or not and which handset model you use.

Sound confusing? Vodafone has released a short video to demonstrate.

Those who don't tweet can go through similar protocol in the "Not on Twitter" box to the right of the web-based application.

The map is updated live, showing customers how strong a signal is in a given area at particular moments of time. Of course, how useful all this is remains to be seen, but it's early days, and is arguably more relevant than a broadly coloured map of the British isles, which is usually how carriers show the extent of their coverage. ®